| After Dark | |
| Type: | album |
| Artist: | Cruzados |
| Cover: | After Dark (Cruzados album).jpg |
| Released: | 1987 |
| Recorded: | Ocean Way, The Complex, Baby-O, Record One, Summa, Rock Steady, Music Grinder Studios, and Studio One |
| Genre: | Chicano rock, rock |
| Length: | 38:09 |
| Label: | Arista[1] |
| Producer: | Greg Ladanyi, Waddy Wachtel, Rodney Mills, Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg |
| Prev Title: | Cruzados |
| Prev Year: | 1985 |
| Next Title: | Unreleased Early Recordings |
| Next Year: | 2001 |
After Dark is the second album by the American band Cruzados, released in 1987.[2] [3] "Bed of Lies" reached No. 4 on Billboards Album Rock Tracks chart; "Small Town Love" peaked at No. 39.[4] The band supported the album with a North American tour that included a leg opening for Fleetwood Mac.[5] [6] They broke up the following year.[7]
The album was produced by Greg Ladanyi, Waddy Wachtel, Rodney Mills, Tom Kelly, and Billy Steinberg. Marshall Rohner replaced Steven Hufsteter on lead guitar.[1] "Road of Truth" contains contributions from J.D. Souther on backing vocals and Paul Butterfield on harmonica; Souther was in the same studio as Cruzados and told the band that he wanted to sing on the track.[8] It was Butterfield's final recording.[9] Pat Benatar sang on "I Want Your World to Turn".
The songs were inspired by Tito Larriva's years living in El Paso and Mexico City.[10] "Blue Sofa" was originally done by his band the Plugz. "Bed of Lies" was cowritten by Lynne Marie Stewart.[11]
Trouser Press called the album "a plain but solid effort" aside from "Time for Waiting", opining that it "sounds nauseatingly like the Eagles."[12] The Los Angeles Times noted the "Springsteen-Mellencamp-Petty territory," writing that "Larriva has developed into a good-enough singer and songwriter in the Little Steven/Southside Johnny vein that the record transcends its obvious reference points." The San Diego Union-Tribune stated that "Cruzados play with the fire of the young Rolling Stones, but the fervor is wasted on a collection of weak songs."[13]
The St. Petersburg Times wrote that Larriva's "desperate vocals and yearning lyrics—coupled with the group's leftover punk instincts—gives After Dark a taut, emotional edge that California-rock always lacked."[14] The Chicago Sun-Times concluded that Larriva "is making music with far greater focus and immediacy than last time through." The Omaha World-Herald determined that "despite the radio-friendly, slick production work ... several tunes here are membrane-thin in staying power."[15] The Houston Chronicle labeled the album "honest, lyrically incisive music that hoists [the band] onto the cutting edge of contemporary American rock."
All songs written by Tito Larriva, except where noted.